Web of Hurt InuyashaXOC
by piggy hanyou
Summary: This is for one of my best-friends. I hope you like this, girl! ;D This is a lemon between Inuyasha and an OC. There is a reference to my previous story in this.
1. Chapter 1

I tried desperately not to roll my eyes as my eccentric, hopeless romantic, best friend described her dream from the night before. "He came to me again." she mused, her daydreaming eyes not even seeing the classroom or anyone in it. All she saw was him, some pretty boy with "long black curly hair", "a hypnotically soothing voice" and "blood-like eyes", literally, the man of her dreams. "But this time, it was strange. It was like he was in a hurry."

"Yeah, probably to run off and appear into the dreams of another whore." I mocked. She glared at me for a second or two, and then lowered her glare to the desk. I couldn't hide my smirk. That's what weak personalities are for, to follow stronger ones- like mine.

"That's not all," she continued. Man, this girl did not know when to quit. "He told me to talk to Kagome, so I could find him."

"Well, here you are, talking to me. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea where to find this guy- or if he even exists."

"Not you, not Kagome Inuzuka…. He told me to talk to… K-K-Kagome H-Higurashi…" Kawayui looked away, afraid. She knows my hatred of Kagome Higurashi. I'm so much BETTER! My gorgeous face is framed by my flowing brown hair- accented by glowing amber streaks- and my eyes are a crystal blue-green as refreshing as a glass of cold water would be to a man dying of thirst. And yet all the guys prefer Higurashi and her mud eyes. I can't stand the sight of that wretch.

"Kawayui, I can't believe you would even think of stabbing me in the back by talking to…. Wait, that's a WONDERFUL idea!"

"It is?" Kawayui's hands were shaking with fear. I could see the devious sheen in my eyes reflect off of hers.

"Yes. Go talk to her. Be your 'innocent' self, befriend her, and gather any dirt I can use against her. Maybe then I'll forgive you for your earlier selfish thoughts."

"Ok, should I go now?"

I could not help rolling my eyes this time. "Yes, the sooner the better. Here she comes. GO!"

I paced impatiently around my room. Kawayui should have reported back half an hour ago. I knew this would happen, Ever since she left on the bus with that girl, laughing. Kawayui would not come back. No, she was going to stay put where she was; she was going to be Kagome Higurashi's best friend now. I kicked the closest bed post and punched a pillow. Something clattered on my window. Finally. I pulled up the glass pane of my window. "Kawayui, you're late!"

"I know; I'm sorry." I threw down the makeshift rope of bed sheets so Kawayui could climb up. She pulled herself up by the windowsill and fell to the floor.

"Why are you late?"

"Naraku," She smiled, then seeming to realize that I had been left out of some sort of secret, elaborated, "the guy I told you about, his name's Naraku. And he brought me to his castle in the middle of this poisonous forest and…" I stopped paying attention, knowing this would last forever. I checked my newly painted nails to make sure that each one had dried perfectly. "… He gave me this! He said that I had to keep it on me at all times so I can visit him. He was even sweet enough to make into a necklace." Kawayui brandished a sliver of a jewel wrapped in twine around her neck. It illuminated a dark purple color. "He told me to keep a good eye on it, said that someone might try to take it from me, especially Inuyasha."

"That's a weird name. Who is that? And why would he take that from you; it's valuable?"

"I guess it is… You know what else was weird? Their clothes! Everyone I saw was wearing old fashioned kimonos, like we do at festivals, only not as decorative. EVERYONE wore them. And they talked funny to, using words like 'bode' and 'thee' and 'milord'. It was odd."

"You're crazy. A word of advice: psychiatrist."

"No, I'm not. It was real! I'll prove it to you. C'mon!" She pulled me toward the window, and slid down the wall, again using the makeshift bed sheet rope. She ran to the sidewalk. Even though it was dark outside, I could see her silhouette. She stood there, hands on hips, waiting for me. I held the bad sheets in my hand, and lifted my legs over the windowsill. I propped my legs against the outside wall of my house and walked down. Kawayui made it look a lot easier. I caught up to her; she grabbed my wrist and ran down the street. I tried to scream at her, but my panting wouldn't let me. She finally stopped in front of the Higurashi home.

"What do you think you're doing? Where are we going? Why are we at HER house?"

"In order, I'm proving I'm not crazy. We're going into that shrine. And we're at Higurashi's house because the well just happens to be on her property."

"The well?" I asked.

"You'll see," Kawayui ran into the shrine, assuming that I just might be crazy enough to follow her. I was. Inside the shrine was much darker than it was outside. "In the middle of this room should be a well. Higurashi jumped into it with me earlier." She ran to the presumed well, and tripped. I grabbed her shoulder, hoping to pull her back and prevent her falling. Instead we both fell in.

We landed with a thump on a dirt pathway. Behind us was the stone well. I stood up, dusting the dirt off of my animal tracks pajama bottoms. I looked into the well, wondering how in the world such a warp- if that was in fact what happened- could be possible. In the rational world, what would have happened is Kawayui and I spending the night in a well screaming our heads off and be caught behind enemy lines. But no, we were in the middle of a forest. More accurately, we were in the clearing of a forest. There were bones at the bottom of the well. I couldn't stop my scream. Kawayui finally moved her lazy butt to come look down the well with me. "You didn't say anything about this." I yelled at her.

"Yes I did. You weren't listening to me again." She said this plainly, knowing as well as I how often I droned out her voice during her rants. I could not deny that I wasn't paying too close of attention to her tangent earlier.

"But, bones?" I pointed down the well as if the scattered pieces of skeletons were not clearly visible without my aid.

"Yeah, it's the Bone Eaters Well. Higurashi told me about when I first came. She said that the people of this village throw the bones of demons down there."

"Demons!" I screamed at her. "How dare you put me in danger like this? I'm beautiful. You know the pretty girls are always the first to go in horror movies?"

"Actually, it's usually the funny people to go. Then the writers don't ever have to worry about adding a comic relief in the movie, and thus it seems even scarier."

"Shut up! And get me out of here!"

"No," What? What was Kawayui doing disobeying me. That does not fall in the description of the side kick best friend. Then I looked at her eyes --they were blank-- and the glowing sliver of a jewel around her neck was going haywire. It looked like a rabid dog trying to force its way off its lease. Then it pointed straight at me, and I watched terrified as it plunged into Kawayui's chest. She didn't even cry out in pain. She continued to stare blankly at me, no, through me. "Lord Naraku says to go to him. Kohaku will escort me to the castle." She said in a dream-like trance. Anyone would have looked at her and think she were sleepwalking unless they were her best friend. And as being such a friend, I knew that Kawayui never walked in her sleep. But I could do nothing to help her. I could feel the brain ordering my useless limbs. But they were disobedient and remained frozen. I watched helpless as a small boy with a sickle in his hand came out of the bushes. Sure, the weapon was frightening enough, but was nowhere near as forbidding as his blank eyes. He raised his hand to Kawayui as if asking her if she would like to dance. Now, Kawayui took his hand as was led back into the bushes and trees. I watched as their shadows grew smaller until they were no more. I slapped the air in front of me, and I was dimly aware that that was exactly what I was trying to do when my body started to betray me – slap my friend awake. I sat down and cried, having no idea that I would never see her again.

I heard a shuffling in front of me, and wiped my tear-stricken face. Always tough, I always had to look tough. I man with black hair, three earrings and in a blue robe held out his hand to me. "Do you need some assistance young ma'am?" He asked, smiling. I thought of the child and how he offered his hand to Kawayui. I slapped this man's hand away and got up on my own.

"No thanks," I declined curtly, brushing off my pants again.

"If that's the case, would you be able to assist me?" The man asked.

"That depends…" I glared.

Then there was a hand on my butt, rubbing. "Would you bare my children?"

I didn't settle for just slapping him, I practically tore his cheek off with my nails. "HOW DARE YOU ASK SUCH A VULGAR QUESTION AND TOUCH MY BUTT!"

"Miroku!" Someone growled. The man in the blue robe half-way raised his hand to show he had heard his name being called. "I heard screaming. Is there a girl up there? Because that would definitely explain the screaming." A man with long silver hair in a red kimono ran up to the clearing. Did he always run in slow-motion, or was that just me? "Miroku!" He looked from Miroku to me and back. The man in red looked me up and down, smirking. "Did he?"

"Touch me?" I glared. "Why do you think he's bleeding?"

"I can see why." He winked and sauntered over to me. Weird clothes or not, the guys here had good taste. "Inuyasha."

"What?"

"My name. Don't forget it."

"I won't. You have no need to worry about that."

"Lost?"

"No duh, Sherlock. How would you ever have figured that?"

"Your weird clothes." He stated, not listening to my obvious sarcasm. "C'mon, let's get you to Kaede."

"You're one to comment on what people wear. What about those ears you're wearing?"

"Wearing? These are real." He leaned his head down, "You need to feel them to make sure?" I didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. "Good." He turned around and walked off, not even bothering to help the pervert. I watched as he left- still moving in slow-mo. Why wait- I asked myself. Without thinking I jumped on his back and locked my arms loosely around his neck. "What do you think you're doing!"

"I'm tired. It's been a heck of a day. And you look strong enough to carry me, would you please?"

"Hmpf, stupid human," Inuyasha secured his arms under me anyway. "You never told me your name."

"Kagome…Kagome Inuzuka"

"What peculiar clothes you wear," the old hag commented as she circled me. "And you say your name is Kagome too."

"Yeah…and?" I raised an eyebrow at her. So what? It was just a common first name, happens all the time. The old woman gave me a bundle of clothes and mumbled something about sticking out like a sore thumb. I looked over at Inuyasha, who was sitting in the corner. He quickly glanced at me and nodded.

"Don't worry Kagome. You won't look anything like her." I would have questioned as to who the "her" he was referring to was, if not for the wrinkly hands pressing into my back. The old woman shoved me into the next room and slid the door closed. I stuck out my tongue at the door, knowing the old woman would not be able to see my rebellious action. I looked at the clothes, a pair of red pants and a white top. I laid them on the floor and started to undress. Little did I know that Inuyasha was watching my shadow on the sheer paper wall, praying that I would take my precious time with each article of clothing. I folded the shirt over like a bathrobe and slipped on the pants, making sure the top was tucked in just right and the pants were tight enough to keep it from slipping open. I slid the door open and was greet by Inuyasha's wide eyes.

"I was right. You don't look anything like her."

"Like who?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Cute gestures usually resulted in answers.

"Nevermind…. Why are you here?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You're here without Kagome. That's not right. Only Kagome should be able to get into this world. How did you get in and why?" I looked to my fiddling hands. I wasn't expecting a good cop - bad cop reaction.

"You're right about one thing, however obvious it may be. I didn't come here with Kagome. I came with a friend of mine. She was telling me about this place and… I called her crazy. So, she dragged me to the well to prove herself. I'm always calling her crazy or stupid… And she got so excited to prove that she was right that she tried to run to the well, but it was dark, and she tripped. I tried to catch her, but we both ended up just falling in the well…"

"Now the question is," Kaede coughed, "why did the well not repel you two? Without a Shikon jewel shard, you shouldn't have been able to pass through the barrier."

"Are these jewels small and purple-ish, with a glow?"

Inuyahsa glared at me with disbelief. "The only _purple _shards I've ever seen were the ones recovered from Naraku."

"That's his name!" I shouted, slapping my fist with my palm. Both Kaede and Inuyasha looked at me with suspicion. They glanced at each other, wondering why they didn't ask before. "That friend of mine…" I looked down at the floor infuriated with these stupid tears. Tough, Kagome, be tough. "She came here with Kagome Higurashi, before… She came back with this necklace with a purple glowing jewel, and said something about Naraku."

Inuyasha leapt from the ground and captured my shoulders. He shook me and dug his claws into my skin. His face was centimeters from mine. He gave a beast-like growl, his eyes glaring furiously into mine. I tried not to shirk away from his frightful face, and failed. "Why didn't you tell me before? Do you know where Naraku is? You've been playing both sides of the field, haven't you? Where is your friend then? I saw no one with you, you lying little-"

"Inuyasha!" Kaede yelled, sounding like a fed up teacher. "Don't scare the girl. She would have never risked revealing she knew about Naraku if she was in fact his spy. Naraku's incarnations are much more cunning then that. Now I do believe she is telling the truth, it certainly makes since. And if this friend had a jewel shard, and you never saw her… Kagome you did come together, right?"

"Yeah, but, almost as soon as we got here, she went all zombie-like. She said something about Naraku calling her or something. The jewel-thing went crazy, and…and…this boy… He had to be like, ten or something. He came up to us, and took her."

"Kohaku," Inuyahsa growled, clenching his fists. "Look here, I'm going to help you get your friend back. It looks like that's the only way we're going to get that jewel shard back from Naraku. We'll head out in the morning. Which means…I'll go get Miroku and tell him we've got a lead." Inuyasha's face brightened as his new smile grew wider. "Sango should be here in the morning to report back from her scouting." He smirked at me. "Looks like we won't need her to do that anymore. We're going to take Naraku down for good!" Inuyasha ran out of the house before I could thank him. I looked back at Kaede, who seemed pleased with this course of action. Inuyasha wasn't the only one who had a thing against this Naraku guy.

"Since you're not leaving until the morning, you are welcome to stay here for the night. Inuyahsa, Miroku, and Sango usually do when they visit." Keade led me to a spare bedroom, and waited by the doorway. "Good night young'un. You'll need your strength tomorrow."

"Thank you. Good night." I lay down on the mat, wondering how I would ever actually get to sleep. There was no way; it just seemed too wrong. I finally closed my eyes thinking, "Let it all be okay. I swear I'll be nicer to Higurashi if everything will be okay."

"Hey Beautiful," Even though I'd only just heard his voice, I could recognize it as Inuyahsa's. I allowed myself to smile, but showed no other signs that he woke me up. I tried to keep my breathing level and not move as much as possible. I felt his hand slide down my arm; he squeezed my hand. "I know you're awake."

I open my eyes to see his golden ones. Nothing was said; it seemed wrong for either of us to talk in the moment. I saw the anger burn behind his eyes. He was anxious to find Naraku. "I'm going to find your friend. I promise. Naraku has hurt too many people. He hurt someone I cared about a long time ago." Inuyahsa continued to rub my arm, letting his fingers glide against the sleeve of my shirt. "That's not going to happened again." Inuyasha leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. I wanted to complete the contact, but I waited for him to. "I promise." He whispered, his lips tickling mine as he spoke. Inuyasha jerked away and rolled over onto his back, arms folded under his head. "I'm sorry."

I crawled over to him, and laid a hand on his chest. "If you're sorry for anything," I let my fingers burrow into his shirt; he gasped as my cold skin relished his warmth, tracing the contours of his abs, "it better be for teasing me like that." I let my lips rest on his, waiting. He did nothing, and I removed myself.

He chuckled, "Now who's teasing?" He tackled me, pinning my wrists to the floor above my head. "Even a simple girl would know not to touch a man down there, without expecting a reaction." He smirked and crashed his lips onto mine. I hugged his shoulders and pulled his body closer to mine. He started to suck on my bottom lip, so I opened my mouth oh so slightly. His long tongue squirmed into my mouth, feeling every part of it and tackling my tongue in an all-out war for dominance. I gave up not long after with a cramp in my tongue. I didn't even know that a tongue could cramp. I moaned in his mouth from the unexpected pain. He skimmed his claws over my shirt, leaving a trail of cuts in the fabric. He un-tucked the top and flung it open. He stared down at my naked chest, transfixed by the curves. He captured one breast in his hand, vigorously squeezing and playing with it. A groan rumbled from deep in Inuyasha's chest. His fangs sank slowly into the other breast, his tongue teasing my nipple.

"Oh! Inuyasha!" I moaned, grabbing onto his long white hair and pulling. He seemed unfazed. He switched breasts, bored with his previous arrangement of hand on the right, mouth on the left. I reached my hand down into his pants and grabbed his erection. I need to please him like I needed him to not stop. He started to suck on me like a baby, and he twitched in my hands. "Inuyasha, please take off your pants." He got up and pulled off his pants and shirt. I stared in wonder at the perfection of his angelic body. He pressed himself against me again mumbling how I shouldn't distract him again. I grabbed onto his cock again, squeezing and pumping up and down.

"Kagome," He groaned into my neck, "don't move your hands." He pumped in and out of my hands. Faster and faster and faster, I imagined Inuyahsa pumping into me like that, and I felt myself getting wet. "Ah. Ah. Kagome," Inuyahsa panted in my ear. "Squeeze me." I tightened my grip as he continued to hump my hands. "Yes…Kagome…a…little…tighter!" I constricted my fists harder against his member. He continued to thrust in and out. "Kagome, Kagome, I'm…I'm," Inuyasha groaned against my collarbone. "I'm going to come." He bit into my neck as a warm liquid spilt onto my stomach. I moaned at the erotic sensation, knowing exactly what was covering me. He plunged his hands into the thick liquid and began to rub it up into and onto my breasts, squeezing and rubbing them in circles. He then trailed his sperm covered hands down and inside my thighs massaging the muscles. He ran his tongue up the valley of my chest and into my mouth, letting me know how sweet he tasted. He trailed his tongue down my torso, hooking his fingers into my pants. Inuyasha ran his tongue down my legs as he slipped my pants down to and off of my ankles. He smirked up at me, and began to rub my womanhood with his thumb.

"Inuyasha," I panted, clenching my hands, wishing there were sheets for me to grab onto. He slipped his tongue inside of me, pulling in and out. "Inuyasha!" He licked against my walls, my pre-cum spilling into his mouth. He pulled completely out, savoring the sound of my whine. He attacked my neck again and bit at my collar bone. "INUYAHSA!" I screamed, this time out of pain as my virgin barrier broke. He didn't even warn me! Inuyasha kissed up and down my neck.

"Shhh… Babe, don't wake up Kaede, now." He plunged deeper into me. Inuyasha groaned against my neck and assaulted my lips, his tongue stirring both of our juices inside my mouth. He pulled almost all of the way out and slammed in. I could feel the floor slide from under my back from the force. I closed eyes, trying to focus more on my breathing than in the pain between my legs. He groaned again, and pulled away from the kiss slightly. "B**ch, you're so tight. I can fix that though, with enough sleepless nights." He lifted up one of my legs and rested it on his side. He penetrated me deeper, and deeper. I felt as a heated pleasure spread from in between my legs to all over my body, as a fire would engulf a forest during the dry seasons.

"More", I whispered against his shoulder and clung onto it as if for dear life. I dug my nails into his skin; small droplets of his blood clinging to the tips of my fingers. Inuyasha's hot breath hit the skin of my cheek with each pant. He bit my bottom lip to muffle a grunt of pleasure. I licked the top of his lip and curled the leg he held around his back to help him push harder. I held my hands lightly to his chest, letting them lightly rub against him with each thrust. Inuyasha began to move slowly, focusing on how far in he was going, further in than his earlier shallow thrusts. He hit my spot, and I screamed in his mouth. I was quieted only by his teeth sinking into the soft flesh of my lip. He curled my other leg behind his back and went faster continuing to hit my spot. I felt a knot grow in my stomach. There was a surge of pleasure and almost relief from the tightness in my gut as I climaxed. But that wasn't good enough for Inuyasha. He continued to bang me like a beast. The moon reflected off of the sheen of sweat forming on his muscles. Harder and harder, faster, and faster, and faster, he pushed until with a growl his come exploded inside of me. He continued to thrust, riding out his pleasure until he collapsed from exhaustion. He pulled out and hugged me to his chest. I nuzzled my head into him, a long ago question lingering, festering in the back on my mind. "Inuyasha, who were you talking about earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said that I didn't look like her. Who is 'her'?"

"Her name's not important. She's the one Naraku took from me, and the woman who broke my heart. But do you know who you _do_ look like?"

"Who?" I asked my face so close to his skin that my eyelashes would tickle it with each seductive blink.

Inuyasha held me even closer to him and kissed the top of my hair, "You look like the girl who's starting to put the pieces back together again."

I giggled, my tired eyes sagged and begged for blessed sleep.

"Kagome…"

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"Next time, we try doggy-style." I couldn't see his grin, but I could hear the cockiness in his voice. I laughed into his chest. "What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked instantly defensive.

"We'll have to wake up early tomorrow to find Naraku, won't we?"

Inuyasha slapped his palm to his forehead, realizing the truth of my observation. "I really hate that b**tard."

**Author's note

I wanted to go somewhere with this story, but I wasn't quite sure. If anyone wants me to continue, please review and say so. Please don't flame; it's just not nice. But, if you think I need to improve on anything, advice is not only welcome but appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

A tight grip on my forearm shook me back and forth like a ragdoll. I groaned as unconsciousness faded and was replaced by a dim sense of reality. As I lifted my head I felt the pull of my neck against the movement. I rolled onto my stomach resorting to plan B, shifted my knees under myself and pushed myself up with my nearly-useless arms. My right arm was sore, but I guessed that was just from sleeping on the floor. I wasn't Annie Oakley and anyone expecting that was out of luck. I shook my head in hopes of clearing my thoughts. Okay, recap: fell into a different world, Kawayui was kidnapped, and Inuyasha…. I jumped to my feet, and shivered as the cold air hit my body. Crap, I was still… I quickly dressed in the kimono from yesterday. Yesterday… It felt too much like a dream. I had the clothes, the room, and a grumpy Inuyasha glaring at me as proof, but I couldn't find any of this believable. Not yet. "Took you long enough." Inuyasha stared down at me. I rolled my head to stretch my neck, babying it wasn't going to help anything.

"You could have woken me up sooner." I grumbled under my breath. "Completely unrelated, what are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha growled. Note to self: don't talk to Inuyasha until after he has had a cup of coffee.

"You're not human."

"Was that obvious?" He rolled his eyes. I glared at him, and he laughed at how easy I was to anger. "Fine, I'm a demon."

"But you haven't tried to kill me. Demons are monsters, and monsters kill people."

"So, just because I haven't killed you doesn't mean I haven't killed anyone."

"Right…" I tried to keep my mind off of the fact that Inuyasha killed someone, and failed. Who did he kill? Was it one, two, ten, a hundred, more? "So then, what kind of monster, I mean, demon are you?"

"That's kind of personal don't you think?"

"You're a cat!"

"WHAT? What would make you say that you, you, you human!"

"You're ears. Cats have pointy ears." I pointed to his ears, not necessarily knowing why.

"Plenty of creatures have ears like mine, wolves, foxes, and most importantly dogs!"

"Oh yeah, like German shepherds, and Shiba Inus… You're a dog." I said, thinking aloud more than anything. Inuyasha being a dog would explain his reaction to my calling him a cat. Man, he's sensitive.

"Whatever." Inuyasha opened the door and made sure to close it in my face.

"You don't have to act like you're PMSing! What the heck is wrong with you anyway?" I slid open the door and stormed out of Kaede's home. "Jeez, I'm _so_ sorry that you—"

"STRANGER DANGER!" A kid? What is a kid doing on this journey into Naraku's lair? Better yet…what am I doing here? A squirrel jumped 5 feet into the air and landed in Miroku's arms. It glared at me, for lack for better terminology. "What is she?"

"The correct term is who. I'm not an it!" I glared back.

"Oh, but I am?" Inuyasha shot back at me.

"Yes! You're a dog. Dogs are referred to as it. Now quit having the emotional cycles of a pregnant woman, would you? What got you're panties in a wad anyway?" My hands were suddenly shackled in the hands of another man. He had long brown hair – the bangs kept out of his face by a brown fur headband. His chest was covered by a metal breastplate with fur shoulders, and he wore…a skirt. But it wasn't just a skirt, it was also fur and could have been considered mini. He gazed into my eyes with his blue ones.

"You are ever beautiful. How could misfortune be so cruel and send another lovely girl that mutt's way. If I were there, you friend would be nowhere near the foul clutches of Naraku; that I know."

"Okay, knight clad in brown fur, why are you touching me?" I snatched my hands out of his grip and ran to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, some gross, weird-speaking, guy is here. WHY?"

"Heheheh," Inuyasha laughed to himself, looked up, and smirked at Kouga. "Is the Big Bad Wolf having trouble finding a girl of his own? Kagome, Kouga's been," His upper lip pulled up in a half-snarl, "_kind_ enough to offer his aid in taking down Naraku."

Miroku cupped his hand next to my ear, "As you can see Inuyasha and Kouga have never been – how shall I say this – the best of friends. Arguments like these can be expected until we are close to Naraku."

"Are they like brothers?" I asked tilting my head slightly at an effort to give of a cute aura.

"No, if you're lucky – and guessing by the predicament of your friend you are not such – you will not have the displeasure of meeting Inuyasha's kin."

"He really has a brother?"

"Yes, a monster of a man. Sessho-maru is the lord of the Western Lands, which was formerly their father's domain. You should know to stay away from him, should our paths ever cross. Sessho-maru hates Inuyasha for no reason other than being a half-demon, and is willing to use anything, or anyone, to gain an advantage."

"Half…?"

"That may be a story for a later time."

"Miroku! Who's she!" The squirrel thing chirped up. It stuck its tongue out at me, and I had no reply but to stick my tongue out to. "You're not Kagome."

"Yes, I am! I may not be the Kagome you're used to, but I AM Kagome." I smiled, and the quick change in mood made the squirrel burrow further in Miroku's chest. I pointed at it, "A pet?"

"I'm not a pet. I am the mighty Shippo, son of the greatest of fox demons."

"So you're a fox? Inuyasha's a dog. So, are there all different types of demons based oon animals, like dog demons, fox demons, cat demons, bird demons, etc?"

Shippo lifted a tiny hand to his chin. It couldn't have been any bigger than his cute small button nose. "I've never seen a cat demon before. But we have seen lots of bird-type monsters. Kouga is a wolf demon, and Naraku's a spider, but I'm not sure if he counts exactly."

"A spider? Poor Kawayui, she hates spiders even the ones no bigger than a speck."

"Why are we standing around yapping? We have to find Naraku, remember? And Sango didn't come back last night. We need to find her as well." I saw Miroku look to the ground in pain as Inuyasha brought up Sango. He looked up almost immediately and smiled at me. He knew as well as I that I both saw and understood what that look meant. Miroku had more than professional feelings for her.

I smiled to myself, "That must mean that he really didn't mean hitting on me like that. It must have just been because she was out scouting and he was alone. Poor guy." "Inuyasha," I whined, "Will you give me a piggyback ride again?"

"No, carry your own weight. You don't see me carrying anyone else."

Kouga ran in front of me and kneeled down. "I'll carry you. No use in making you tire yourself out. We shouldn't expect that of a lady." I climbed on top of his back and he jumped to his feet. "Hold on tight, but don't choke me. This'll be one heck of a ride." I clutched his shoulders tightly and he took off. I leaned my head onto his back and tightened my grip. I could hear the still air rush past us as he ran faster. I closed my eyes. He stopped suddenly. I tried to get down, afraid of another sprint, but Kouga wouldn't let me. "You're okay, princess. We'll just wait here for the others to catch up. Won't be long, at least, it wouldn't if not for the half-bred mutt." I rested my head on his shoulder and looked into the trees. The trees were packed too tightly together to see far into the grove.

"Pretty, isn't it?" I asked. I could feel Kouga tense. I just continued to gaze at the blur of bark, leaves, vines, grass, flowers, and various categories of plants I couldn't even guess the names of.

"I guess you could say that. Not near as nice as the home of my clan. I could take you there one day."

"Maybe when we're all done with the Naraku business." I sighed against his back, and he pat one of my legs in a comforting gesture. He looked over his shoulder at me. "How strong is Naraku?"

"Not as strong as I am. If he were, he wouldn't run away all of the time."

"So I can get my friend back?"

"If she's not dead." I looked at him now, and he looked much sadder than his words would have suggested. He looked as if Naraku had taken numerous people, from Inuyasha, Kouga, and me. The blue color of his eyes took on a deeper shade, and I struggled to stifle my question of "whom?" There was a rustling not unlike the sound of dead leaves in a soft breeze, a sound that would not be common for another two seasons.

"Kouga, you flea-bitten B**tard! What was that for?"

"Inuyasha!" I cried out, waving one arm in the air. "You're so fast; I wasn't expecting you guys to catch up for awhile." Inuyasha ran up and shoved his face into Kouga's, lifting his head up to glare at him. "Kagome, get off of his back."

"Please let me down." Kouga complied, but didn't like me submitting to Inuyasha so readily and easily. I slid off of his back; the boys continued to glare. I grabbed Inuyasha's hand in one of mine and captured Kouga's in the other. Inuyasha's incredulous look was matched by Kouga's. "Can you at least pretend to like each other, for a little while at the most? I hate to see you both fight when the real enemy is Naraku. Let's save our anger for then, please?"

"Only for you, my beautiful." Kouga's eyes softened. He made a show of squeezing my hand. He dropped my hand and brushed stray hair out of my face. Inuyasha took advantage of this by hugging me to his chest, more out of outdoing Kouga in any way he can.

"Only for you Kagome." He let me go and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Now, no more being carried for the rest of the day. I don't want to have to be the one babying you when your legs cramp up tomorrow."

"I would." Kouga smirked and winked.

"And get yourself killed in the process. We need you to fight, not stay on the sidelines pretending to nurse a worthless injury that could have been prevented."

"Will Kagome be fighting?" Kouga challenged, knowing the answer.

"Of course not! Do you see her carrying a weapon? She has an idea where Naraku may be. We'll drop her off at a village somewhere and pick her back up when Naraku's head is where it should be – on a silver platter." Miroku finally came running, panting. He ran to Inuyasha's side and bent over in pain. He grasped the handle of his staff to keep from falling over. He looked to be in miserable condition, and I suggested setting up a camp to give him a break. "No! We can't waste any time!" Inuyasha shot back.

"We can at least come up with some sort of plan. Yes, I realize that Naraku runs away from all your fights, but it doesn't help if we don't have a plan. If we just barge in like a herd of elephants then he'll know to pack up his things and move shop. Miroku is tired anyway. It's like you forget that he's human. He's not naturally as fast or strong as you two. Let him rest or he'll be useless tomorrow." I sat down on a large rock nearby and crossed my legs. I crossed my arms against my chest with a defiant "hmpf". Kouga threw up his arms in defeat, and Miroku finally fell to the ground to further help my point. Inuyasha growled, stalked over to me and lifted me over his shoulder. "You bully, put me down." Inuyasha smacked my butt and laughed to himself.

"C'mon Kouga, get Miroku. We're moving to where we won't be seen as easily." Kouga threw Miroku over his shoulder and followed behind to check on me and talk as Inuyasha trudged deeper into the forest.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy."

"How do you know where Naraku is?"

"Personal."

"Can you fight?" I looked off to the left, as I tend to do for some unknown reason whenever I need to think something over. I couldn't remember the last time I was in an actual fist fight. I didn't know if I could actually hit someone, even though I had threatened many people I would do such on numerous occasions. I then noticed the sword at Kouga's hip.

"Not really, but I can learn if you're willing to teach." Inuyasha threw me onto the ground and pretended to stretch out a sore shoulder.

"Man, you're heavy Kagome." Kouga rested Miroku on the ground and looked at me. I ran over to him and hugged his arm close.

"Kouga-chan, didn't we have something to do, somewhere else?" Kouga knew I was talking about my fighting lessons, but played along.

"Yes, that thing, I remember." Kouga led me away from the clearing where Inuyasha had started to gather dry wood.

"Where do you think you're going?" I turned my head around quickly and stuck out my tongue and pulled down the lower lid of one eye. I looked back at Kouga so I wouldn't see Inuyasha's reaction. He needed to pay for calling me fat.

I had been given Kouga's sheath for a weapon, his sword stuck into the ground for now. No need to get hurt – as Kouga had said. I was beat, in both senses of the word. My breath came in as short gasps, and my arms did not want to lift the heavy sheath. They were already turning blue. Kouga ran at me and lifted one leg for another kick. I strained my willpower and weak muscles one last time to block a kick that never came. His foot stopped an inch short from colliding with my head. I fell face first into the dirt. I clutched at it beside my head, my nails digging furrows in the ground. No more. I can't take any more. My shins throbbed at the same rhythm as the blood pounding against my skull. The skin was tender from the bruise forming above my left eye. I closed my eyes. I saw the sheath swing back and forth in a blind frenzy as Kouga waited patiently. The forest around him faded, slowly moving back until it was no more – leaving darkness in its place. He punched the side of my head, kneed me in the gut and threw in another punch for the heck of it. "Weak" he said in a tone that was much too sinister and deep for Kouga. "Can you really hope to defeat me?" I looked back at Kouga, his snarl displaying his fangs, his once blue eyes glowing red. Enormous legs, eight of them, sprouted from his back, the fangs expanding to the point that his lips couldn't cover them anymore. Horns grew out of his hair, which was receding fast. Kouga's skin began to inflate like a balloon, his insane grin spreading as his skin was stretched and tore. The blood seeped out of his cheeks, his chest, his legs. And, he exploded. Gore flew in every direction. The skin floated to the "ground" like tore sheets of paper. Now stood a massive spider. The head turned until the chin pointed to the sky and there was a deafening snap. The disconnected head flew down; its eyes were level with my own.

"I am the all powerful Naraku. Can you really hope to defeat me?"

I awoke with an agonized scream. As I jolted to a sitting position, my weary body groaned as I moved my sore and bruised muscles. I waited as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, expecting to see those red eyes, expecting to see the body of a giant spider missing the head. I saw that Inuyahsa, Kouga, and Miroku were all still fast asleep. Good, they needed to recover. I pushed myself off of the ground and onto my feet. I wanted to go back to where Kouga and I fought. I shuffled my feet, afraid of falling. I stumbled and hit the ground hard, my hands instinctively pushed outward to catch my fall. They hit something round and slid forward as the object – which I guessed to be Miroku's staff – and it hit my chest as my arms moved from under me. I bit my lip to prevent a cry of pain. I slowly got onto my knees, breathing out my want to cry. I seized the evil staff to realize it was not Miroku's staff after all. It was a stick. I held it out in front of me; it looked to be about three feet long, give or take the length that was distorted by the darkness' illusion. Using my new cane, I hobbled back to the sparing arena.

In silence, I lifted the stick and held it straight out at shoulder height, ignoring the protests of my nerve-endings. I bent my elbow, allowing the stick to now be sideways and cross over my face a few inches in front of it. I turned the position of my arms, left now above the right and swung my makeshift wooden sword to the left. Turning the sword in my hands, I stabbed the air behind me from the side. I let go of the sword with my left hand and swung it to the right. I again grabbed the sword with my left hand and returned to my starting position. I raised my arms above my head, hurting but determine to kill – _"Can you really hope to defeat me?" _"Yes!" I screamed as I brought the sword onto the ground. A wave of dirt flew into the air, clouding my vision temporarily. I continued this until I thought that the dirt had received enough of a beating.I came down with the sword as I threw it to the ground; the force was too great for my body to continue resisting. I didn't feel my face hit the ground. I was too busy dreaming of the nothingness that visited the most tired of minds, minds too exhausted from the day to conjure meaningless dreams of places and people who would never exist or have already ceased to.

I will kill you, Naraku. I can. I will. I must.

Author's Notes:

I think the reason Sessho-maru hates Inuyasha is that Inuyasha and his mother were indirectly the cause of his father's death, and I'm sure Inuyasha's inheriting the Tetsusaiga didn't strengthen their "bond" either.

If you would like me to continue (I admit this chapter stunk, but the next one will be better) please review and tell me so. Also if you have an idea for the story, please share it and I will try to add it in. Please don't flame; well founded critisim and advice are welcome. Thank you for reading!


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